Chemical composition of coffee beans

2024 Author: Isabella Gilson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-01-02 16:12

Today, coffee is one of the most common drinks around the world. Africa is the historical homeland and there is nothing surprising in the fact that the most elite varieties of the drink are obtained from raw materials grown on this continent. Each coffee bean has a rich composition of complex organic substances.

Besides Africa, coffee is grown by craftsmen from Central America and the Caribbean. A drink made from such grains is endowed with a special taste, aroma and texture. In South America, coffee production is dominated by Brazil. Quality is also highly valued here. Also, a number of countries in Southeast Asia are also contributing.

What is the use of coffee?

One has only to mention coffee out loud, as soon as you can feel all this pleasant aroma of a delicious and unique drink. Teas also do not lose their relevance, and among many people, discussions have been held for a long time regarding who is better to givepreference. Speaking about the benefits of coffee, first of all it is worth mentioning its high qualities:

• Stimulating effect.
• Tonic effect.
• High percentage of antioxidant content.
• Reduces the risk of a number of diseases.

The stimulating effect comes from the caffeine content that everyone who takes this drink in the morning knows about. What is the peculiarity here? The fact is that thanks to this active ingredient, which is included in the chemical composition of coffee beans, the blood supply to the brain is significantly improved, and short-term memory is often activated. Due to this, a person can quickly make the necessary decisions.

The tonic effect also benefits the human body. You can forget about stress, apathy, lethargy, drowsiness and other similar manifestations, as coffee helps fight these ailments.

Everyone knows that when iron interacts with oxygen (of which there is plenty in the air), it begins to rust over time. Something similar happens in our body and free oxygen radicals take part in this. Thanks to antioxidants, these radicals are neutralized, and the greater their concentration in the body, the better the protection. One cup of morning coffee contains up to 1 gram of nutrients, which is a quarter of the daily value.

If you regularly drink such an invigorating drink, you can protect yourself from many risks:

• liver cancer;
• Alzheimer's disease;
• diabetes;
• alcoholic cirrhosis.

And if you still refrain from adding sugar to the drink - caries is not terrible! The immune and digestive systems are also protected.

Is there any harm?

Despite all the advantages that coffee beans give, this composition can also be harmful. Over time, addiction appears - if a person goes without coffee for a long time, he is attacked by drowsiness, fatigue, a headache begins, and in some cases, pain may appear in the muscles.

In this case, the influence is not only on the physical, but also on the mental level. As long as caffeine is present in the body, a person spends most of the time in an excited state. But in its absence, one cannot avoid the appearance of irritability, depression, and even inhibition.

Coffee enhances the work of the human heart and vascular system. Therefore, excessive consumption of the drink leads to an inevitable deterioration in cardiac activity.

In addition, this is a good diuretic effect, and taking it too often leads to rapid aging of the body as a whole, since most of the useful trace elements are washed out with water and s alts. Among them are calcium and magnesium. With a clear lack of them, the risk of osteoporosis or heart disease increases.

Pregnant women should not consume coffee beans at all. Composition on an unborn baby actsjust like an adult. But to become addicted, you need a very small dose, so expectant mothers are better off completely refraining from this drink.

General information about the chemical composition of the drink

Nature itself has tried and endowed coffee with a whole variety. As modern technologies in the field of determining the chemical composition show, about two thousand different components are present in the grains. And only a few hundred have received detailed study. Thanks to this combination, we feel the aroma and taste of the drink. Moreover, each type of coffee has an individual set of substances.

The rich chemical composition of coffee, as well as the percentage of all substances, is determined by the climate and soil characteristics in the growing areas. And the peculiarities of taste and aroma depend on the technology of roasting and preparation of the drink itself.

As a result of this, natural ingredients undergo complex transformations at the chemical level. And as a result of the processing of coffee beans, the composition changes. Moreover, experts from many countries around the world are trying to get to the bottom of the ongoing processes.

Green grains

Green coffee is becoming more and more popular day by day, despite the fact that it is not cheap. At the same time, there are both supporters and opponents. The former consider it a drink endowed with healing properties, while the latter generally recommend staying away from it as far as possible. In fact, these are just contradictions.

Beans that have not been roastedcontain a large amount of antioxidants and valuable trace elements. So in a thermally unprocessed product a lot:

• Caffeine. It is he who gives coffee an invigorating and tonic effect. There is also another alkaloid - theobromine, which is able to regulate the concentration of glucose in the blood.
• Tannin. It is a tannin with antibacterial properties, which helps to remove heavy toxins from the body. It also helps to strengthen blood vessels, improve digestion and speed up the process of tissue regeneration.
• Chlorogenic acid. An effective antioxidant of plant origin, which is found only in raw grains, since the temperature of 200-250 ° C (roasting) leads to its destruction. Due to its presence in coffee beans, fats do not accumulate in the body, metabolism improves, and the digestive and circulatory systems return to normal.
• Theophylline. Improves blood composition, which reduces the risk of blood clots. Also responsible for the normalization of the respiratory system, abdominal cavity, heart.
• Amino acids. Our immunity increases its protective functions, the tone of the vascular system increases, appetite returns to normal. In addition, a person can gain the desired amount of muscle mass.
• Lipids. These substances have a beneficial effect on the nervous system.
• Fiber. If the body has enough of these substances, then the risk of developing oncological neoplasms can be avoided. Cholesterol levels are well controlled, in addition, digestion, as well as organ functionpelvis normalizes.
• Trigonelline. Thanks to him, the pressure returns to normal, the metabolism is maintained at an optimal level, brain function and the formation of blood cells improve.
• Essential oils. They act as a sedative, improve digestion, and have a beneficial effect on the organs of the respiratory system. But most importantly, the substances can eliminate harmful microorganisms.

It is worth noting that theobromine in the coffee bean is a kind of analogue of caffeine. As you can see, unprocessed grains have more beneficial properties. It is no coincidence that it is recommended to use green grains for weight loss.

Roasted Raw

During the heat treatment procedure, some of the moisture in the grains is reduced (14-23%), but additional volume is acquired due to gas formation. Most of the substances found in raw grains form new compounds during roasting. As a result, the chemical composition becomes even richer. At the same time, 800 components form the taste.

In addition to the fact that the heat treatment of the beans gives the coffee a pleasant aroma, the beans themselves acquire a recognizable dark shade. Roasting has a destructive effect on tannin. And since this component gives the drink a bitter aftertaste, you should be careful about the process.

The unique aroma is also obtained with the participation of trigonelline, which is converted into nicotinic acid during roasting. At the same time, caffeine becomesmore. More details about it below.

Caffeine

Most people imagine the caffeine and theobromine in the coffee bean as a brown powder. In fact, both of these substances are white or colorless crystals that taste bitter. It is he who brings our body out of a sleepy state and gives us vigor in the morning.

For the first time people learned about caffeine in 1819 thanks to the German chemist Ferdinand Runge. He also gave it that name. And in 1828, two French chemists and pharmacists Joseph Bieneme Cavantou and Pierre Joseph Pelletier were able to get caffeine in its pure form. An invaluable contribution to the development of this substance was made by Emil Hermann Fischer, who was the first to master the artificial synthesis of caffeine.

Where does such a famous component come from? It is usually obtained from a number of plants:

• tea;
• coffee tree;
• guarana fruit;
• cola nuts;
• cocoa;
• yerba mate.

Besides, it doesn't hurt to know how much it is in different types of foods.

Approximate concentration of active substance:

• cup of tea - 15-75mg;
• a cup of brewed coffee – 97-125mg;
• cup chocolate (100g) - 30mg;
• cup cocoa - 10-17mg;
• a cup of instant coffee - 31-70mg;
• Coke (100g) - 14mg;
• energy drink (0.25L can) 30-80 mg.

The wide range for coffee and tea is determined by the variety and method of preparation.

Theobromine

Being in coffee beans, both caffeine and theobromine affect human psychomotor. You can also highlight other qualities of theobromine:

• reacts with alkalis and acids;
• does not decompose in air;
• practically insoluble in water;
• is in a solid state;
• crystal structure;
• tastes bitter.

Theobromine has its own formula - C₇H₈O₂N _{4, which shows that the substance is a compound of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen and oxygen. It is found in cocoa beans, kola nuts, and trees from the Holly family. Tea tree leaves and coffee beans contain small amounts.}

Coffee dosage

If you periodically drink such a drink, then the nervous system is really stimulated for a certain period of time. Exceeding the average dosage leads to a loss of the stimulating effect. As a result, the nervous system is exhausted.

With prolonged use of coffee, a “drug” addiction appears, the degree of which depends on the individual characteristics of the organism. For the same reason, it is impossible to determine how long it will take, since in each case the reaction to the stimulus is different.

Many researchers are studying how much caffeine and theobromine are in different coffee beans. But we, as amateurs, are much more interested in another question: "How much of a drink can be fatal?". Byexperts estimate for a limited period of time you need to drink 80-100 cups. Fortunately, it is impossible for us to overpower this amount of drink, no matter how tasty it is.